Craving a killer crab cake? Harford County has it. In search of a sizeable steak? Got you covered. Have a loved one with dietary restrictions? Even then, the dining options are plentiful.
More than 2,400 readers shared their recommendations for the county’s best cuisine in this year’s best restaurants contest. And the consensus is clear: no matter your tastes, you can’t lose.
Editor’s note: Winners and honorable mentions were determined by popular vote. Readers were invited to vote online in August and September. Find the official rules here.
Al Fresco
The Hickory Lodge Restaurant and Bar
Honorable mentions:
Tidewater Grille
MacGregor’s Restaurant
Laurrapin Grille
Ambience
Liberatore’s Ristorante
Honorable mentions
Pairings Bistro
The Vineyard Wine Bar
Pat’s Pizza Family Restaurant
Asian
Chopstix Gourmet
Honorable mentions:
Fuji Sushi
Lemon ‘N Ginger Asian Grille
The Orient
Bakery
Flavor Cupcakery
Honorable mentions:
Woodlea Bakery
Paradise Donuts
Goll’s Bakery
Flavor Cupcakery’s name might focus on taste, but a visit to the Bel Air bakeshop is a treat for all the senses.
“The first thing people usually say is that it smells so good in here,” says owner Shelley Stannard. “They say it’s beautiful and there’s so much to look at.”
Stannard opened her bakery in 2010 and was thrust into the national spotlight when she won the televised competition “Cupcake Wars” in 2011. Since then, she and her smiling staff have baked and decorated cupcakes in every flavor imaginable, from Harry Potter-inspired Butterbeer to French toast with bacon.
“People love our creativity,” says Stannard. “We really care about what our products look like. People not only come back for their favorites, but there’s always something new.”
Stannard and her crew make seasonal cupcakes and new, creative flavors each week as well as 10 “classic” flavors that are available every day.
“They’ve been the same classics since we opened, since people love them,” she says. “It would never occur to us to take any of them off our list. They’ve proved themselves.”
Flavor is not strictly a cupcake shop, either. Stannard says over the past few years people have started going crazy for her macaroons and for the fun custom cakes the shop makes for parties and weddings.
Whatever the occasion, Stannard makes sure her customers have fun when they enter the shop.
“It’s an escape from life for a few moments,” she says.
Find Flavor Cupckery & Bake Shop at 118 N. Tollgate Road, Bel Air. 443-371-6664 or flavorcupcakery.com.
(By Kit Waskom Pollard | For Harford Magazine)Bar Food
Looney’s Pub
Honorable mentions:
MaGerk’s Pub & Grill
Sean Bolan’s Irish Pub
Route 24 Ale House
Barbecue
Bird’s Nest Barbecue
Honorable mentions:
Famous Dave’s
Chaps Charcoal Restaurant
JD’s Smokehouse
Bartender
Megan Kikilis, Looney’s Pub
Honorable mentions:
Tiffany Maher, The Hickory Lodge Restaurant and Bar
Kellee Cavey, Liberatore’s Ristorante
Lance Fino, Liberatore’s Ristorante
Beer List
Looney’s Pub
Honorable mentions:
Birroteca
DuClaw Brewing Co.
Sean Bolan’s Irish Pub
Breakfast/Brunch
Sunny Day Cafe
Honorable mentions:
Alchemy Elements
Bagel Works
Mountain Branch Grille & Pub
Whether sitting outside on Main Street or inside the restaurant, starting the day at 4-year-old Sunny Day Cafe is a winning proposition for many Bel Air locals.
“I love our customers. They’re great,” says owner Laurie Orfanidis, noting that most Sunny Day diners are repeat customers that come back frequently.
“They enjoy coming in because it’s comfortable. They can have a conversation with their server about what they did last week and they remember,” she says. “People are very appreciative that they have a place to come that feels like home — like ‘Cheers,’ where people know your name.”
Everything on Sunny Day’s menu is fresh and made to order, says Orfanidis, and the crepes are especially well-liked.
“People love our crepes. Nutella and banana and our Crabby Florentine are very popular, and we do seasonal crepes and they tend to be the most popular,” she says.
Whatever the order, Orfanidis says she prepares customers’ food with care seven days a week. She rarely takes a day off.
“Everything we make is fresh, homemade and made to order,” she says. “We put a lot of care into what we do and we’re proud of the things we put out.”
Find Sunny Day Cafe at 101 S. Main St., Bel Air. 410-877-9020 or sunnydaycafebelair.com.
(By Kit Waskom Pollard | For Harford Magazine)Burger
Five Guys Burgers and Fries
Honorable mentions:
Jake’s Wayback Burgers
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers
Looney’s Pub
Chef
Bruce Clark, Laurrapin Grill
Honorable mentions:
Jon Kohler, Pairings Bistro
Yale Koplovitz, MacGregor’s Restaurant*
Brian “Chet” Chester, Silks Restaurant at Bulle Rock
Cocktail
Liberatore’s Ristorante
Honorable mentions:
Laurrapin Grille
Looney’s Pub
The Hickory Lodge Restaurant and Bar
Coffee
Coffee Coffee
Honorable mentions:
Starbucks
Fox & Fern Cafe
Java by the Bay
Coffee Coffee has been an integral part of the Bel Air community for nearly 25 years, but that doesn’t mean the family behind the coffee, the Depmans, are coasting on its reputation.
“Coffee Coffee … has a long-standing customer base,” says manager Hillary Depman Tayson. Tayson’s mother, Betsy Depman, has owned Coffee Coffee since 2007.
Tayson says customers appreciate that she and her family are in the shop every day, exploring what’s new in coffee trends, and that they get involved with the community in a variety of ways, from selling coffee at the Bel Air Farmers’ Market to raising funds for local nonprofit organizations like Harford Community Action Agency.
“We focus on local,” she says. “Our coffee roasters are local, and we carry a wide variety of local products made in the region. We use Baltimore Coffee & Tea, High Grounds and Thread. The other thing that’s kind of cool is that we do partnerships, like with Independent Brewing. They’re putting some of our coffee in their beer, and we do a coffee that’s infused with hops.”
Hoppy beer isn’t the only creative coffee the Depman family brews.
“We’re always trying to stay on top of coffee trends,” says Tayson. “We sell our bottled cold brew concentrate and do a nitrogen-infused coffee served out of a keg. We try to do things that are different.”
Find Coffee Coffee at 5 Bel Air South Parkway, Bel Air. 410-515-2060 or coffeecoffee-online.com.
(By Kit Waskom Pollard | For Harford Magazine)Crab Cake
Box Hill Pizzeria
Honorable mentions:
Pat’s Pizza Family Restaurant
The Olive Tree
The Bayou Restaurant
Deli
Wegmans
Honorable mentions:
Savona
Sam’s Deli
Vagabond Sandwich Co.
Dessert
Broom’s Bloom Dairy
Honorable mentions:
Vaccaro’s Italian Pastry Shop
Desserts by Rita
Flavor Cupcakery
Fine Dining
Liberatore’s Ristorante
Honorable mentions:
Pairings Bistro
The Vineyard Wine Bar
Birroteca
Frozen Treats
Broom’s Bloom Dairy
Honorable mentions:
Bomboy’s Home Made Candy (tie)
Jarrettsville Creamery (tie)
Sweet Frog
Happy Hour
Looney’s Pub
Honorable mentions:
Mountain Branch Grille and Pub
Half Pints Sports Pub and Grill (tie)
McGregor’s Restaurant (tie)
Healthful Menu
Panera Bread
Honorable mentions:
Fox & Fern Cafe
Laurrapin Grille
My Three Sons
Italian
Liberatore’s Ristorante
Honorable mentions:
The Olive Tree
Giovanni’s Restaurant
Basta Pasta
Late-night Dining
Double T Diner
Honorable mentions:
Looney’s Pub
Pat’s Pizza Family Restaurant
Waffle House
Live Entertainment
Looney’s Pub
Honorable mentions:
Sean Bolan’s Irish Pub
Laurrapin Grille
MacGregor’s Restaurant
Lunch Menu
Pat’s Pizza Family Restaurant
Honorable mentions:
Looney’s Pub
Laurrapin Grille
Fox & Fern Cafe
Mexican
La Tolteca
Honorable mentions:
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Plaza Mexico
Qdoba Mexican Eats
New Restaurant
Alchemy Elements
Honorable mentions:
Stone’s Cove Kitbar
One Eleven Main
Naughty Dogs Restaurant Pub and Grill
Since its opening last fall, Alchemy Elements has quickly become a popular gathering place and dinner spot for Harford County residents.
“The community has been really great to us,” says Debi Bell-Matassa, a Harford County local who owns the restaurant with her husband, Michael Matassa. “We live here and always have. We’re the hometown couple, and people really cheer us on and want us to succeed.”
Bell-Matassa and her husband also owned Alchemy, in Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood, from 2010 until it closed last summer. When the couple opened their new spot, their goal was to create a captivating space where they could provide top-notch food and service.
With decor that Bell-Matassa described as comfortable, but “a little edgy and upscale” and a creative American menu, Alchemy Elements delivers in terms of space and food. But according to Bell-Matassa, it’s the service that really sets the restaurant apart.
“My staff is amazing,” she says. “They’re really nice people. They actually like taking care of people and are happy to be in hospitality.”
For example, she says, “If a guest comes in for the second time and says, ‘This is great, but I’d really like to see a bottle of Balvenie 17-year scotch,’ we order it.
“We try to make this feel like their place.”
Find Alchemy Elements at 528 Baltimore Pike, Bel Air. 443-371-7513 or alchemyelements.com.
(By Kit Waskom Pollard | For Harford Magazine)Pizza
Buontempo Bros Pizza
Honorable mentions:
Pat’s Pizza Family Restaurant
Fortunato Brothers Pizza
La Cucina Italian Restaurant
Place to Take the Kids
Broom’s Bloom Dairy
Honorable mentions:
Pat’s Pizza Family Restaurant
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers
Jarrettsville Creamery
Place to Take Out-of-Towners
Laurrapin Grill
Honorable mentions:
MacGregor’s Restaurant
Liberatore’s Ristorante
The Vineyard Wine Bar
Best Overall
Liberatore’s Ristorante
Honorable mentions:
Laurrapin Grill
Pairings Bistro
The Vineyard Wine Bar
Seafood
Bonefish Grill
Honorable mentions:
Richard’s Fish & Crabs
Tidewater Grille
Price’s Seafood
Service
Liberatore’s Ristorante
Honorable mentions:
Bonefish Grill
Pat’s Pizza Family Restaurant
The Vineyard Wine Bar
Server
Cat Ye, Fuji Sushi
Honorable mentions:
Darian Smelser, Looney’s Pub
Drew Hild, JD’s Smokehouse
Sheree Freund, Liberatore’s Ristorante
Sports Bar
Looney’s Pub
Honorable mentions:
The Greene Turtle
Buffalo Wild Wings
Half Pints Sports Pub and Grill
Steak
Texas Roadhouse
Honorable mentions:
Outback Steakhouse
Laurrapin Grille
Sean Bolan’s Irish Pub
Steamed Crabs
Richard’s Fish and Crabs
Honorable mentions:
The Seafood Stop
Fallston Seafood
Price’s Seafood
Takeout
Box Hill Pizzeria
Honorable mentions:
Pat’s Pizza Family Restaurant
Fuji Sushi
Wok To Go
Value
La Tolteca
Honorable mentions:
Pat’s Pizza Family Restaurant
Looney’s Pub
Fallston Seafood
Vegetarian Options
Laurrapin Grill
Honorable mentions:
Fox & Fern Cafe
Alchemy Elements
Sizzling Bombay
View
Tidewater Grille
Honorable mentions:
Mountain Branch Grill and Pub
MacGregor’s Restaurant
The Promenade Grille
Wine List
The Vineyard Wine Bar
Honorable mentions:
Pairings Bistro
Liberatore’s Ristorante
Enotria
A previous version of this story misspelled the name of chef Yale Koplovitz. Harford Magazine regrets the error.